Computers and computing devices have become smaller, faster and more efficient. As a result, their functionality has evolved and they are able to store and process more information. However, there is a still a limit to what a device can store and process locally.
Lately, the development of mobile connected systems has enabled even more functionality for portable devices. These devices, including laptop computers, PDAs, cell phones, notebook computers, blackberry-type devices, and other mobile devices can be connected to the internet wherever a strong connection exists. Though applications for these devices come in several forms, users historically prefer a web base model because of the ease of application deployment and subsequent changes. Additionally, web based pages are very simple and intuitive for users to use.
There are several problems with the latest developments of mobile devices web browsing. It is not easy to get connections wherever a user is. The connection is typically through a standard phone connection, which depends on cellular phone signal strength. There are currently many dead zones in cellular phone networks, which can cause downtime for connections between a mobile device and a web server.
This is even more troublesome when considering the interaction necessary to provide web page content through a typical browser. When a user interacts with a web browser, the browser will request more information from a server based on user input. This requires an active connection between the browser and a web server in order to retrieve new information to present to a user. Thus, when a user is interacting with a web browser on a mobile device and enters an area with weak signal strength or a dead zone, the weak connection (or lack thereof) will likely provide errors in the content received by the mobile device. Thus, the user is often unable to interact with the web page in this manner.
What is needed is a mobile application architecture framework that provides an intuitive user interface and a more reliable mechanism for providing content to a user on a mobile device. The framework should also provide for developing, deploying and managing sophisticated mobile solutions while enabling a simple Web-like programming model that integrates with existing enterprise components.